Libyan Trial of Bulgarians Postponed Again

Published January 6th, 2001 - 03:00 GMT

The trial of six Bulgarians and a Palestinian who face the death penalty if found guilty of deliberately infecting nearly 400 Libyan children with AID

The trial in Tripoli of six Bulgarians and a Palestinian who face the death penalty if found guilty of deliberately infecting nearly 400 Libyan children with AIDS has been postponed again, Bulgarian radio said Saturday.

The trial will resume on February 10. It is the eighth postponement since the trial opened in February last year.

Defence lawyers had asked for the adjournment because of the absence of the lawyer for the chief accused, a Palestinian doctor, the paper said.

The six Bulgarians, five nurses and a doctor, and the Palestinian doctor, stand accused of "triggering an AIDS epidemic by injecting contaminated products" and premeditated murder at a children's hospital in Benghazi.

They have all denied the charges. Two of the nurses initially admitted guilt but then withdrew their confessions saying these had been obtained under duress during police questioning.

Eight Libyans have been accused of "negligence" in the same case.

Bulgaria has been lobbying Egypt to support endeavors to ensure a fair and objective trial.

Bulgarian Foreign Ministry spokesman Radko Vlaikov has said the accusations were "absurd" since there were cases of AIDS transmission at the pediatric hospital where the accused worked, both before and after their time there -- SOFIA (AFP)